Roborock Saros 10 review: Flat design, clever combination

Saros 10: Design and workmanship

Robotic vacuum

The Saros 10 is the sister model of the Saros 10R and, at first glance, appears quite similar. The round body measures 35 cm in diameter, is cleanly crafted, and weighs just under 4 kg.

The robot is available in white and black. The surface is matte with a slight texture, making it less susceptible to fingerprints.

At 7,98 cm tall, the Saros 10 is just as flat as the Saros 10R, making it one of the flatter models in its class. Unlike the 10R, the top features a laser turret for navigation that can retract when needed. This happens automatically as soon as the robot approaches a low piece of furniture.

It is operated via three touch-sensitive buttons on the top panel. These are used to trigger start, spot cleaning, and return to the station. The capacitive buttons look neat and respond reliably, but they don't offer any haptic feedback. Those familiar with the physical buttons on the Saros 10R will notice a difference in handling.

The 270 ml dust container is concealed beneath a magnetically secured cover. The DuoDivide brush is centrally located on the underside. The FlexiArm side brush is mounted on the right side and can be replaced without tools as needed. The mopping module consists of a vibrating mop plate and a side-mounted mini mop that can also reach edges and baseboards.

Station

The station is called RockDock Ultra 2.0 and is functionally identical to the Saros 4.0R's Multifunctional Dock 10. It is capable of vacuuming dirty water, cleaning the mops with water heated to up to 80°C, then drying them, and automatically refilling the robot's fresh water tank. The dock also has a separate cleaning tank. The cleaning agent is added automatically, eliminating the need for a dosing cup or manual work.

The dock is available in two versions: a standard version with water tanks, and a version with an additional water connection for fresh and waste water. This option is currently reserved for the Saros 10 only.

The tanks each hold 4 liters, and the dust bag holds 2,5 liters. Unlike the Saros 10R, the base tray of the station isn't removable. So, if you want to clean it, you'll have to use a rag instead of a sink.

The visual advantage of the RockDock Ultra 2.0 is that the tanks disappear beneath a magnetically closing flap. This makes the overall design appear more streamlined. There's also a compartment on the back for cable storage, which the Saros 4.0R's Multifunction Dock 10 lacks.

Delivery

The scope of delivery is straightforward and includes, in addition to the robot vacuum and the docking station, only an additional dust bag, a power cable, and an instruction manual. The availability of spare parts is not a problem with Roborock.

Roborock specifies a replacement cycle for brushes and filters of six to twelve months. Dust bags last six to eight weeks, and mop pads last three months. A complete set of four bags, two filters, and four mops costs around €40. This keeps running costs reasonable, considering that the system takes care of most of the maintenance itself.

Comparison table

Saros 10: App and voice control

The Roborock app remains one of the most well-thought-out robot vacuum apps on the market. It's clearly structured, and despite its numerous features, it's easy to navigate. Setting it up via the app is incredibly straightforward. Launch the app, connect to Wi-Fi, create a floor plan, and everything's ready to go in just a few minutes.

SmartPlan

One useful feature is Roborock's SmartPlan. Instead of stubbornly cleaning every room according to the same pattern, the Saros 10 analyzes the floor plan, cleaning habits, and floor conditions and adjusts its cleaning accordingly. In heavily frequented areas like the kitchen or hallway, the robot moves more slowly, increases suction power, and uses more water when mopping. In less frequently used rooms, however, a quick standard cleaning is sufficient. The cleaning process is also automatically optimized. The robot starts where it makes the most sense, eliminating unnecessary trips.

Real-time camera surveillance

Using a camera feed, you can remotely monitor the location of the Saros 10 in real time from the app. The quality is sufficient for checking everything's okay or quickly checking whether the dog is still in the living room.

Additionally, the camera can be set to patrol mode, in which the Saros 10 moves through the home along predefined routes. Roborock has developed a Pet Snaps feature for pet owners. With a click in the app, the robot can navigate to your pet, take a photo, and send it to your smartphone along with the location pin. Two-way audio even allows for short shouts.

 Voice control is also supported. In addition to Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri Shortcuts, the device also includes its own voice activation, "Hello Rocky." This allows simple commands like "Start cleaning" or "Clean the kitchen" to be spoken directly. This even works offline, and as long as the surroundings aren't too noisy, the commands are recognized even from the next room.

As is typical with Roborock, you can also draw no-go zones, virtual walls, and special carpeted areas. The mapping improves with each cleaning, as the robot gradually recognizes furniture and expands the map.

Saros 10: Navigation and obstacle detection

Deployable LiDAR

Unlike the Saros 10R, with its sensor- and camera-based StarSight navigation, the Saros 10 relies on an extendable LiDAR module (RetractSense LDS) that only retracts when the robot needs to navigate under particularly low furniture. This allows the robot vacuum to stay flat without sacrificing the precision of traditional laser navigation. As soon as there's more space, the sensor extends and scans the surroundings in all directions.

This creates a fairly precise map with well-recognized room boundaries, furniture, and carpets. The first mapping was completed in just under 12 minutes in our test, and the app immediately suggested appropriate rooms. Floor type detection also works well. The water flow is reduced on wood, tiles are mopped normally, and carpets are reliably recognized.

Reactivate AI 3.0

In everyday life, the Saros 10 maneuvers confidently through the apartment. Chair legs, sofas, and table edges are all no problem. If there are obstacles, the front camera, supported by Reactive AI 3.0, helps. This works very well in normal light, and even in the dark, the robot continues to move reliably, which isn't always the case with camera-based models.

However, it also shows that the obstacle detection isn't quite up to the level of the 10R. The latter detects objects somewhat faster and more accurately. In our test, the Saros 10 missed a flat USB cable and dragged it along. It also sometimes gets a bit of a squeeze with socks or cat toys lying around. However, the detection is perfectly adequate for normal everyday objects like shoes or food bowls.

Collision detection can be adjusted in the app. If you want to be on the safe side, set the mode to "Sensitive." This will keep the robot more of a distance, but it might also miss a corner under a chair. In normal mode, the balance between thoroughness and caution is quite well struck. If you want to be more precise, you can even have the Saros 10 move quite close to furniture in "None" mode, which ensures better space utilization, especially in small rooms.

The automatic chassis lift is also practical. The Saros 4 easily handles thresholds up to 10 cm high by briefly raising its front wheels and then slowly sliding over them. This works not only for door thresholds, but also for thicker carpets.

Saros 10: Suction and wiping performance

suction

When it comes to vacuuming and mopping, the Saros 10 doesn't do things by halves. With 22.000 Pascals of suction power, it's one of the most powerful models in the Roborock lineup, along with the Saros Z70. The Saros 10 effortlessly vacuums up fine dust, pet hair, or scattered chip crumbs under the coffee table.

In terms of noise level, the Saros 10 is comfortably below room volume at around 58 dB in standard mode. Even on Max, it's still below 64 dB. So, you don't necessarily need to turn up the volume for Netflix.

On hard floors, it glides effortlessly across the surface, picking up even the finest particles along the baseboards and barely flinging anything to the side. The FlexiArm side brush reaches into corners and swirls the dirt directly toward the main brush. On carpets, the chassis automatically raises and maintains close contact with the floor, which is especially helpful for ingrained dirt. In our test, it removed around 90 percent of the particles from a deep-pile carpet. That's impressive.

The Saros 10 also handles hair very well. The two-part DuoDivide brush is designed to prevent hair from tangling. Even after weeks of use, the brush remains virtually hair-free.

Wiping performance

When it comes to mopping, however, the Saros 10 takes a different approach than the 10R. Instead of two rotating mops, it relies on a vibrating mop plate with the new VibraRise 4.0 technology. The pad vibrates at up to 4.000 movements per minute and is pressed against the floor with a little pressure to loosen stubborn stains.

In practice, this works well for normal dirt. The Saros 10 wipes away light splashes, dust, and everyday grime in one go. When it gets sticky, such as with dried-on juice or grease, it doesn't quite match the performance of the 10R's rotating mops. In the test with ketchup and coffee stains, a trace was still visible after one pass. The surface was only truly clean after the fourth attempt.

Carpet detection

The system scores highly with its effective carpet detection. The mopping module automatically raises by 18 mm as soon as the robot encounters a carpet. This ensures that even deep pile carpets stay dry. Alternatively, you can set the app to have the robot vacuum first, then return to the station, put the carpet down, and then simply mop. This takes a little longer, but is ideal for households with lots of carpets.

When it comes to water distribution, you can choose between several intensity levels in the app. The Saros 10 also automatically adjusts the water flow to the flooring. It reduces the amount on wood and uses a little more on tiles.

Saros 10: Battery and Charging

Like the Saros 10R, the Saros 10 is equipped with a 6.400 mAh battery. In standard mode, this is enough for up to 220 minutes of runtime, which corresponds to almost 240 m². Provided the floor is predominantly hard.

The running time varies depending on the cleaning mode and surface:

•  Hard floor, standard: approx. 195 minutes
•  Hard floor, Max mode: approx. 100 minutes
•  Carpet, standard: approx. 170 minutes
•  Carpet, Max mode: approx. 90 minutes

The Saros 10 uses its energy just as efficiently as the 10R, even though it lacks the latter's StarSight navigation. Thanks to targeted route guidance via the extendable LiDAR and Reactive AI 3.0, unnecessary routes are avoided, which in turn helps maximize battery life.

If the battery runs low, the robot automatically returns to the docking station, charges only as much as necessary, and continues cleaning from the last charging point. The charging process takes approximately 2,5 hours. If you plan to clean overnight or want to conserve battery power, you can set a charging profile with delayed or slow charging via the app.